Yes, he was so beautiful when I got him, but the rot progressed slowly and I didn't notice it at first, and when I did, people told me that it probably wasn't rot and just to use a bit of stress coat...

Until I started seeing larger chunks of his fins dissolve... (that was about 2 weeks ago when I started the AQ salt)

The salt DID help, it just didn't do enough... and now that he's out of the salt, the rot is progressing again. Just started him on the double Maracyn treatments today. Been thinking about introducing the salt back, but he's only been off it for about a week now... :/ not sure if I should wait longer or not

Poor thing has SO many pinholes in his caudal fin right now :( I'm really hoping the Maracyn will work, because after this I have no idea of what to turn to

His fins are still kinda hole-y but they aren't getting any worse and he hasn't lost anymore fin since I started on the Maracyn I and II so I'm going to take that as a good sign.

On a side note, I'll be going out of town next Thursday and won't be able to do water changes or medication until I get back on Sunday.... any advise on how to manage him? He's currently in a 1 gal hospital tank and I worry about ammonia levels building up over 3 days..

Of course I'll change his water Thursday before I leave, and do another change as soon as I get back on Sunday. I just don't trust my roommates to do it because well... one of them killed her turtle (by accident) and the others I don't really get along with... together the three of them managed to kill most of my porch garden in a week.. so.... yea, don't trust them with my baby boy....

Other than that... the other kids are doing fine, Zakut built be an awesome bubble nest over night and Miss is just as prissy as ever XDD

I've been working on getting Nova's tank a little nicer... I'm taking out the log I had in there and I'm probably going to do an npt in it... I have some wisteria, anacharis, and cardimine and I want to get some sand (color suggestions?) and cap it with gravel or should I even bother with the gravel cap?

I've never worked with sand before, but I think he'd like it... I'm also debating on putting the filter back in... I have it baffled and it doesn't cause too much strain for him at all (I think he kind of enjoys swimming against it sometimes actually)

Let me explain to you what happens to your body when you're a music major:

First, playing violin is NOT a natural position for the human body, and, when you do it too long... it can really mess you up.
Take me for example, I have trigger finger in both my hands, a circulatory disease called reynauds (which isn't really a product of playing an instrument, it just kind of happens) and now, I have neck and back issues...

So I went to the chiropractor today for the first time ever... I was terrified to say the least, I hate doctors.... (not in a bad way, I just can't do it.. call it a kind of phobia) and he marked my back in at least six places where it was messed up and needed adjusting, cracked my neck, and had a go and my middle/upper back area... which didn't go so easily... took him two tries to pop one vertebra and couldn't get the other one after 3 efforts.... so I have to go back in tomorrow...

Also... it hurts like hell...
I can hardly move my neck, and my left arm has been tingly since I left the office an hour and a half ago.. also , I have to ice my back... I HATE ice... because of the reynaulds and circulatory issues... I'm basically allergic to cold to explain it simply.

So anyway...

Nova...
His condition's not much better.... and I'm a little worried about what to do as the holes in his fin are a tiny bit larger today.... *sigh* I just want this whole ordeal to be over with

Anyway... back from the chiropractor.. and I'm feeling WAY better, I was able to play my violin tonight in my concert without too much pain so that's a super plus xD

Have to go in tomorrow again though D: This is getting expensive... stupid back... stupid violin causing health problems... stupid me for being stupid for not sitting JUST the right way *sigh*

Anywhodle... Nova's still fine, not getting worse... but no visual improvement or healing BUT he IS trying to fight this off as best he can :D Little bit of excess slime coat in the tank today, but doing well ^^

Anyhow, in the rare, totally not expected case that someone actually reads my rantings and ravings, I'm gonna copy-paste a post I made today that got less than wonderful replies... I'm apparently terrible at making/naming threads and I'm EXCELLENT at killing them... So doing this journal thing is kind of counter intuitive

Quote:

Anyone have any experience with this sand/substrate stuff?
(working on trying a NPT... and this will be my first experience with sand so I don't really know what I'm doing )

Plants I have are:
Anacharis
Banana Plant
Cardimine?? (Looks suspiciously like penny or money wort... very similar leaves to the banana plant)
Wistera (only one of these )

Also toying with the idea of putting in a terracotta pot... but I've heard mixed things about these

The tank is a 3 gal cube.

More questions xD
Will I need the filter that I have? (Whisper filter 10i I think)

It was decided that I need an MTS... with no way of getting one that's simple, because none of my LFS carry them and I'm SUPER cautious of ordering things offline...

SO, anyone who see this and wants to sell me some, I DO NOT have pay pal as I don't like credit cards and don't trust my bank account info to the general interwebs SO I can pay in cash or check :)

Wow... that sounds a bit... shallow? but I don't care, I'm not in a caring kind of mood today, can you tell? So yea... not like people read my stuff anyhow...

Maybe I should just start posting some excerpts of my novels here or something and have a minor social experiment if anyone will actually read it xD my latest though... bit dark that one.... my others are okay for now, I'm about half way through 2 novels, a fifth of the way through my 3rd and just started on a fourth HAHA

I'm crazy... gonna go study orchestration now because I have to have transpositions and ranges of ALL the woodwind instruments memorized for my exam tomorrow *goes off to lurk forums more and procrastinate*

Nova is doing MUCH better (I think) the holes that were in his tail fin are GONE not bigger but GONE :D I did notice a few small tear like spots, one on a ventral, and the other on the tip top of his caudal, but I think that those are from the rather rough water change he had today... (my bad)

I will be keeping a very close eye on him but otherwise he's a healthy happy guy.

I will soon be putting Zakut in Nova's old 3 gal and I'm getting a 5 gal soon that I will be turning into an NPT, and will be making a thread on it as soon as I can get it going

I have a feeling I may do a few more of these, so I'm numbering them xD

I've had the phrase "You think you're hot snot on a sliver platter, but you're really just a cold booger on a paper plate" running through my head all morning. My best friend said this to me.

Now, granted, I think I deserved it at the time, (she said similar things to me all through out middle school and high school) and though this phrase does do wonders at 1. Making a person really angry because you've told them that they're not all that and 2. Belittling them and humbling them, it has come to my attention that little phrases like this can have a SIGNIFICANT impact on a person. As I've been listening to my inner voice say this to me all day, I can't help but be depressed.

Now, I don't think my current mood is my friend's fault, nor do I blame her for saying it, but I do feel like effect of my BEST friend saying this phrase, and other similar phrases to me over time, has had a major impact on my adult personality. Not that those changes are all negative, but things that you say to your friends and others, especially if you're close to the person you say it to, can have a LASTING effect on them psychologically.

As for the other things I have been called, by this friend and others, there is a reason, hence the confessional, but I think by putting this here for others to read, it may help in understanding my overall personality.

I am a control freak.

There. I said it.
I am.
BUT I've worked long and hard at suppressing and changing this aspect of my personality, because of my friends who have showed it to me so bluntly. I've been called a tyrant, Hitler, Nazi (mostly because of my German heritage, but still applicable) controlling, mean, rude, and other things that middle school and high school girls say to each other when they get in fights.

Granted, I am 22 and in my final year of college now.
Even so, certain phrases still hurt. For example, the Hitler/Nazi thing. It's terrible and complete bullying and should NEVER EVER be said to a young person for any reason whatsoever.

As a person who has been also a subject of bullying, harassment, and other things I'd rather not mention on a family friendly forum. I know first hand how easy it is to become one of those kids that randomly brings a gun to school. I wasn't one of those mind you. But I could have EASILY turned out that way if it wasn't for my parents and the friends I am talking about, and one VERY important aspect of my personality that I love and hate.

You see, I am a VERY forgiving person. As in, it is actually IMPOSSIBLE for me to hold a grudge or stay angry or upset at anyone for more than a 24 hour period. That being said, there are currently 3 people out of 22 years that I have not been able to get over their wrongs towards me, my fiance, and my friends.

Anyway, I've kind of gone off on a tangent now... my point is WATCH what you say to people. The things I have experienced I would not wish on anyone. Though if you have the personality to handle verbal abuse and such things like I do, harsh and blunt friends are probably the best people you can know. Things my friends have said haunt me to this day, which is both a good and bad thing. Good because it reminds me of who I was and who I never want to be again. Bad because no matter how many years it's been.... it still hurts and I wear my heart on my sleeve for many reasons.

It takes a lot of self control and support from friends and family to not become a cold and hard-hearted person after some of the things I've been through.

So, I'm going to leave off now, and send you away with a quote from a book I absolutely adore:

"There is a legend about a bird which sings just once in its life, more sweetly than any other creature on the face of the earth. From the moment it leaves the nest it searches for a thorn tree, and does not rest until it has found one. Then singing among the savage branches, it impales itself on the longest, sharpest spine. And, dying, it rises above its own agony to out carol the lark and the nightingale. One superlative song, existence the price. But the whole world stills to listen , and God in his heaven smiles. For the best is only bought at the cost of great pain………Or so says the legend…" -The Thorn Birds (opening)

"The bird with the thorn in its breast, it follows an immutable law; it is driven by it knows not what to impale itself, and die singing. At the very instant the thorn enters there is no awareness in it of the dying to come; it simply sings until there is not the life left to utter another note. But we, when we put the thorns in our breasts, we know. We understand. And still we do it. Still we do it." -The Thorn Birds (closing)